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THE MAKING OF EASY RIDER: Part III (from the Movielady Archives)

Welcome to Part III of the Special 40th Anniversary posting from the archives of the original Movielady (and my mentor), Jessica Atwater.

In 1968 she was approached by “Mother Nature News,” to report on the production of a low-budget “biker film” being directed by a little known director. She spent two months with the cast and crew and out of that experience came this article.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy being able to bring it to you.

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Day Fourteen (A Simple Meal)

Peter got the day off to a bad start by refusing to come out of his trailer. He said that unless he could start the day with a “proper” breakfast of eggs, ham, bacon, pancakes and hash browns, he just wasn’t going to report to the set. Dennis tried to lighten the mood with a lame joke about “hash” browns, but Peter just stomped his foot petulantly and stormed back into the trailer. We were literally out in the middle of nowhere. I think it was near Four Corners, New Mexico. Dennis sent one of the grips into town to fetch Peter’s breakfast.

Today’s schedule called for shooting the dinner scene at the commune. Unfortunately, Peter’s breakfast didn’t do much for his mood. When he saw that he would have to actually sit on the ground for much of the scene, he flatly refused. He said he didn’t want to get his new pair of chinos dirty. To keep the peace, Dennis scared up a throw rug from somewhere and the rest of the shooting went off without a hitch.

Day Twenty-One (I Love a Parade)

I awoke with great anticipation. Today was the day that I would be reunited with my erstwhile amour, Jack Nicholson. “Nibbles” and I had met at the premier of “Hell’s Angels on Wheels” and we had hit it off marvelously.

When we saw each other on the jailhouse set, it was as if all those months since the last time we were together had simply vanished. We were Jack and Jessie, “J & J”, again.

While the others filmed the parade sequence, we spent some time on the jailhouse cot doing some “catching up”.

That night we “stole” Dennis’ hog and set out into the desert. We smoked a little weed and talked about life. Out under the vast panoply of stars, our discussion turned to the possibility of other worlds.

I told Jack something in confidence, something I had never told anyone before and I swore him to secrecy. I confided that for the longest time, I had been convinced that there were aliens living among us. I told him that I was convinced that they were from the planet Venus.

“They’ve been coming here ever since 1946, Jack,” I said. “It began when the scientists first started bouncing radar beams off the moon. And they’ve been living and working amongst us in vast quantities ever since. The government knows all about them. But they have decided to repress this information because of the tremendous shock that it would cause to our antiquated systems. So now, the Venusians are meeting with people in all walks of life — in an advisory capacity.”

Afterwards I felt foolish and forced Jack to swear that he would never tell anyone about what I had said. He smiled a strange little smile, and promised that he would never tell a soul.

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Next time: Smoke gets in your eyes…and…a tragic accident

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If you would like to learn more about Jessica Atwater, please visit www.movielady.com